Thanks to Rafael Domeyko for contributing to this report.
Last weekend’s Arena Pro Swim Series event in Charlotte was heavily attended by international athletes. We’ve covered the successes of Brazil’s squad already, along with the Italian influx, but one national team that made some understated waves in Charlotte was Egypt.
Egyptian National Team Head Coach Sherif Habib told SwimSwam that his squad was attending the Charlotte Pro Swim Series meet to prepare for – and qualify for – this summer’s World Championships in Kazan, Russia.
It turned out to be a highly-successful meet for Team Egypt, with a number of national records falling along with multiple national records.
Marwan El-Kamash was the biggest success story. The 21-year-old broke two national records, including a 200 free in which he finished third overall, ahead of some huge swimming names. El-Kamash is currently finishing up his junior year of school and swimming at the University of South Carolina.
El-Kamash was 1:47.73 in that 200, smashing the old national record by well over a second, and perhaps more importantly, getting under the FINA “A” cut and qualifying for this summer’s World Championships. He would do the same in the 400 free, going 3:50.34 for a new national record and A cut. His Egyptian and South Carolina teammate Akaram Mahmoud was also under both of those marks, going 3:50.61. Mahmoud also made an “A” cut in the 1500 free, going 15:07.84.
Marwan El-Kamash’s younger brother Youssef also broke a national mark. He had set Egypt’s national record in the 100 breast at the Mesa stop of the Arena Pro Swim Series, but bettered it by a tenth with a 1:02.62 in Charlotte. That earned him 10th place overall. Youssef swims for Grand Canyon University in Arizona, along with his twin brother Mazen.
Coach Habib says his athletes will now gear up for the Hungary Open on June 27th, with more athletes looking to join Mahmoud and El-Kamash on the World Championships team.
Habib told SwimSwam that the national team (or the portion of it that isn’t currently training at U.S. colleges) trains out of the Cairo Stadium, which features a 50-meter outdoor pool and a 25-meter indoor pool. Though Egypt has been in upheaval since its 2011 revolution, Habib says the political turmoil hasn’t affected the team’s ability to train. In fact, he said the biggest challenge for Egyptian swimming at the moment is a lack of sponsors and sports marketing, which would help fund travel for the national team and potentially bid to host international meets in the future.
Habib was living in the United Arab Emirates in 2012, when the Egyptian swimming federation asked him to return to coach the national team. Habib agreed and returned to his home country to help bring the swim team up to an internationally-competitive level.
Egypt’s team will be back in action next month at the Hungary Open, and will then take a training trip to Europe in the leadup to Kazan, where Habib hopes the rise of Egyptian swimming will continue strong.
Youssef El Kamash also picked up the World Championship B cut in the 50 Breast in a time trial at the Mesa Arena Pro meet, and then went faster again at Charlotte with a 28.38. With the top time in Egypt to date, but not quite a record, he is in good position to make his first trip to the World Championships. His 100 breast time at Charlotte was just 0.06 off the World B cut. He will make a run at that at Santa Clara.
Egyptian swimming is definitely booming! A sub 1:48 200 free, a close to the 15:00 mark in the 1500, and etching towards a 1:00 flat 100 breast swim. All of these are achievements that are honestly a big deal for Egyptian Swimming. These young men’s improvement rate is insane! They are on track for Kazan ’15 and Rio ’16. More A-cuts to come hopefully!
(It’s worth mentioning that Egyptian Media remains oblivious to these feats)
Let’s not forget about Steve Schaefer
Forgot the Egyptian star Farida Osman!
Nour – Osman was not at the Charlotte Pro Swim Series meet with the swimmers mentioned in this story. But she is definitely a big part of the Egyptian program moving forward.
Jared, I hope you enjoyed yourself in Charlotte! 🙂
I did! Very happy to get under 1:04 without a shave or rest. Thanks to you and everyone for all the support from the SwimSwam comments sections!
Does this team need a coach? I know a guy… he’s probably over qualified… but could you send the max salary and benefits package over and I’ll get it to him. Act quick, he’s got a lot of offers on the table.
Akram also was under the A standard in the 1500 with a 15:07, I don’t believe he swam the 200, although I could be wrong
Happy to see swimming become more and more of a world sport. People often complain about good american college swimmers taking another nationality to reach the Olympics, but I think it is a good thing to help start excitment fir the sport in that country.
Also, this is starting to become a pet peeve of mine, is when people say “they smashed the record.” Obviously it varies due to distance. I realized this pet peeve watching Michael Phelps 200 free in Melbourne 2007. Thorpe’s record was 1:44.06 and MP went 1:43.86. Then commentators said “he smashed the record.” If he broke it by half a second I would agree, but seriously? Two tenths?
Also, these young men are truly Egyptian, they’ve only come to the US for college.
Everything is a SMASH